Financial Aid for Students


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History

The first step towards financial aid for students wishing to pursue higher education was in 1643 when the first scholarship was established by Lady Anne Radcliffe Mowlson from Harvard University. Later on many acts were passed in order to make higher education more affordable for students wishing to attend college. The Higher Education Act of 1965, created by President Lyndon Johnson, gave financial assistance to students who came from lower and middle income families to create more opportunity for them to recieve higher education. This act also gave financial assistance to less developed colleges and helped to strengthen their educational resources.

The Educational Opportunity Grant was founded in 1972. It was a grant given to students which at first was only four hundred and fifty-two dollars. This grant is originally how the Pell Grant was started.

With new technology, access to financial aid was made easier through computers. Now students were able to access the information easier. In 1994,the FinAid web site was established and in 1995 FastWeb was established, which was the first free large online scholarship search database. These websites made it easy to apply for scholarships and financial aid.

What We Believed Before


The First students who attended college were the wealthy elite. College was very expensive and mostly only kids who came from wealthy families had the money to go. This was at a time when college was not necessary to become successful and to get a good job. In fact most people did not go to college. In 1635, the first Latin Grammar School was founded. This school was only for males with high social standing in order to prepare them for higher education. At this time in history it shows how people of higher social standing valued education, it made them feel superior to others, seeing as they were the only ones who could afford it.

What We Believe Now


Today, anyone is able to attend college. With the passing of new legislation which gives students a chance to recieve financial aid, many students are now able to recieve higher education. Scholarships are also readily available to students in good standing and for certain achievements. Most jobs today now require a college degree. Financial aid is supposed to allow students to attend college, even if they do not have the money, in order to get the job they want.

How Do Schools Act As If We Still Go By The Old Belief?


Even though financial aid is meant to help students pay for college, many people are still not able to go to the college they want to because of the high prices of college tuition for many of the well known schools such as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton, whose tuitions are up around forty thousand dollars. Many of the wealthy and socially elite students can afford to attend these schools. Also the tuitions of many public colleges have gone up and many people can not afford to attend college. Financial aid most of the time does give you enough money to attend a college if you wish too.



Bibliography


http://www.finaid.org/educators/history.phtml- FinAid website

http://www.cnm.edu/depts/trio/downloads/History_Higher_Education_Act_06-05-06.pdf- Higher Education Act

http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~er74/- Higher Education in America